False Solutions

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Page - August 31, 2010

It’s clear that to preserve the planet for our children and grandchildren, we need to take action on climate change. And the good news is that the solutions are all around us — renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and geothermal.

But as we transition away from fossil fuels, we must be careful not to be distracted by technologies that industry paints as clean in order to buy themselves more time. The following are a few of those technologies.

Carbon capture

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) aims to reduce the climate impact of burning fossil fuels by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from power station smokestacks and disposing of it underground. However, the technology is largely unproven and will not be ready in time to save the climate.

Nukes

Forest offsets

There is widespread agreement that tropical deforestation, which accounts for about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, must be halted in order to avoid the catastrophic impacts associated with a 2°C or more rise in global mean temperature. There is also agreement that efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries must play a prominent role in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations and in domestic climate change initiatives in countries such as the United States.

The political will to provide financial incentives for developing nations with tropical forests is a positive trend. But this political momentum is under threat as heavy polluters attempt to appropriate REDD for their own purposes, proposing REDD project offsets within carbon markets as low-cost substitutes for their own emissions reductions. Among the most controversial proposals are sub-national REDD offsets, which allow corporate polluters to continue emitting greenhouse gases in exchange for protecting an area of forest in a developing country.

Media Contacts

Joe Smyth (Washington, DC)

831-566-5647

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